EVALUATING SCHEDULES OF ITERATIVE/INCREMENTAL SOFTWARE PROJECTS FROM A REAL OPTIONS PERSPECTIVE

Vassilis C. Gerogiannis, Androklis Mavridis, Pandelis G. Ipsilandis, Ioannis Stamelos

2008

Abstract

In an iterative/incremental software project, software is built in a sequence of iterations with each of them providing certain parts of the required functionality. To better manage an incremental delivery plan, iterations are usually performed during pre-specified time boxes. In a previous work, we addressed the problem of optimizing the schedule of incremental software projects which follow an iterative, timeboxing process model (TB projects). We approached scheduling as a multi criteria decision problem that can be formulated by a linear programming model aimed to overcome some “rigid” simplifications of conventional timeboxing, where durations of time boxes and stages are equal and a priori fixed. In this paper, we move this decision making process one step forward by applying real options theory to analyze the investment risks associated with each alternative scheduling decision. We identify two options in a TB project. The first is to stall (abandon) the development at a pre-defined iteration, while the second is to continue (expand) development and deliver the full functionality. Thus, we provide the manager the flexibility to decide the most profitable (valued) combination of delivered functionalities, at a certain iteration, under favourable or unfavourable conditions.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

C. Gerogiannis V., Mavridis A., G. Ipsilandis P. and Stamelos I. (2008). EVALUATING SCHEDULES OF ITERATIVE/INCREMENTAL SOFTWARE PROJECTS FROM A REAL OPTIONS PERSPECTIVE . In Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Software and Data Technologies - Volume 3: ICSOFT, ISBN 978-989-8111-53-1, pages 224-233. DOI: 10.5220/0001894502240233

in Bibtex Style

@conference{icsoft08,
author={Vassilis C. Gerogiannis and Androklis Mavridis and Pandelis G. Ipsilandis and Ioannis Stamelos},
title={EVALUATING SCHEDULES OF ITERATIVE/INCREMENTAL SOFTWARE PROJECTS FROM A REAL OPTIONS PERSPECTIVE},
booktitle={Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Software and Data Technologies - Volume 3: ICSOFT,},
year={2008},
pages={224-233},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0001894502240233},
isbn={978-989-8111-53-1},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Software and Data Technologies - Volume 3: ICSOFT,
TI - EVALUATING SCHEDULES OF ITERATIVE/INCREMENTAL SOFTWARE PROJECTS FROM A REAL OPTIONS PERSPECTIVE
SN - 978-989-8111-53-1
AU - C. Gerogiannis V.
AU - Mavridis A.
AU - G. Ipsilandis P.
AU - Stamelos I.
PY - 2008
SP - 224
EP - 233
DO - 10.5220/0001894502240233